


Hiding? No, He's Just Oblivious.

by orphan_account



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:55:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3747904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thomas should have stuck to drumming. Writing the lyrics was a really dumb idea - especially with his giant crush on their bassist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hiding? No, He's Just Oblivious.

They were on their tour bus when Thomas flopped down on the couch beside Newt and dropped his head on Newt's shoulder. For a few minutes, he watched Newt mess around on _Garage Band_ with his headphones in place. It was fascinating, how he always got into this magical musical headspace when he sat like this, with that earnest look in his eyes and frown on his face. It told Thomas this might be their next big hit in the making which would be fantastic since Minho had accidentally dropped a false hint for an upcoming album in his last interview.

 But on the other hand, Thomas was genuinely bored and he needed someone to entertain him before he fell in a coma from sheer lack of brain stimulation. The problem was that he was very much aware how dangerous it was to approach Newt when he was like this. If Thomas pulled him out too harshly, Newt might actually kill him. He was usually an extremely laid back, funny guy, sometimes even childish, but when he was focused on his work? Completely different guy.

For a few minutes,Thomas continued to behave and ponder his next move. Then Newt started replaying the same thing over and over again. He only adjusted bits and pieces here and there which was extremely repetitive to watch. So he reached up and poked Newt's cheek.

Newt ignored him.

Thomas poked once more.

Newt only leaned slightly away.

Thomas huffed in annoyance and lifted one side of Newt's headphones. "Hey, Newt."

Newt slapped his hand away. The headphones snapped back against his ear.

Thomas pulled them away again. "I'm bored, let's do something!"

"Go away, Tommy, I'm working!" Newt sounded irritated but not yet pissed off.

Thomas decided that he might just win this round. "You really think you're gonna get anything done now I'm here?"

"No, that's why I _just_ told you to go away."

"That you did, but do you think I'll listen? You should know me better than that by now."

Newt sighed and saved his work.

Thomas smirked as he watched him shut his laptop and pull off his headphones before moving everything on the coffee table.

When he was done, Newt turned to glare at Thomas. "You got my attention. So? What now?"

Thomas shrugged. "Dunno."

Newt wet his lips and looked at the opposite wall like he was trying to swallow his anger. "Are you bloody serious?"

"Well, yeah..."

"I just want you to know how much I'd like to strangle you right now."

Thomas nodded earnestly. "I'm okay with that."

"You're actually the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

"That's okay, I love you enough for this relationship to still work."

Newt shot him another glare. "You're lucky we can't replace our drummer fast enough to play our next show without you."

"Very lucky indeed."

* * *

The following day found Thomas alone on the couch, playing Mario Kart. They had two more days before their next concert and he was adamant on enjoying the hell out of them.

An hour passed before Minho flopped down next to him after he'd picked up the second controller. They navigated through the ancient _Ninteno 64_  menu to go into multiplayer mode. Without exchanging even a single word, they picked their characters and map. 

"Soo ... care to tell me about your huge crush on my bassist?" Minho said as he dropped a banana right in front of Thomas's kart.

Thomas spun out of control and got hit by a school bus. He really fucking hated this map. "Crush? What crush?" He could practically feel the glare Minho was giving him.

"Don't fuck with me, Greenie! Everyone knows about your undying love. Even the fans."

"Pff, there's  _nothing_ going on."

"Yeah, I know, that's what I was saying. You need to man up and talk to the guy. I'm sick of always playing pining love songs."

Thomas sighed. "Dude, I'm always trying to tell him but he's just so fucking clueless!"

"Did you ever try directly telling him?"

"I did, and you'd think he'd get it by now! I mean, even our fanbase sees it!"

Minho snorted. "They'd even see something if there was nothing to see so that's not really an argument."

"Touché..." Thomas replied. He was quiet for a few seconds. "But _still,_  how can he just not get that I'm confessing to him every single day?"

"Just tell him! No metaphors, no song lyrics, just a straight up confession."

"That's what I've been doing!"

"I don't believe you."

"But I'm telling you -"

"No way, man, Newt's pretty smart, he would've gotten it by now."

"Then he maybe just doesn't feel the same way. Maybe he's just too nice to turn me down directly."

"Nah", Minho said. "His gay-love's just as big as yours, trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure 'bout that."

"No, really, believe me."

Thomas ran his kart into the upcoming traffic and dropped his controller on the couch. "I'm not in the mood for this anymore."

Minho paused the game. "Hey! You can't just leave! I was winning!"

"Don't care!" Thomas called back over his shoulder, already half-way out the room.

"Tell him!" Minho shouted once more.

* * *

The bus had just pulled into a pull in when Thomas flopped down in his bunk, ready to sulk and ponder his crush. He had about two minutes of silence before strands of long dark hair appeared in his field of vision.

It was Teresa. Her bunk above his and she had the tendency to lean over the edge to bother him. "So ... I guess Minho finally confronted you about our ... problem."

Thomas glared at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Tom, you two need to talk this thing out. And soon."

Thomas pushed onto his elbows. "What am I supposed to do when he just doesn't get it?"

"Maybe he's got a really long line in that department. You should just go out and tell him."

Thomas huffed a breath and got up. Without giving anyone the chance to follow him, he fled the bus.

His MP-3-Player was still in his pocket and his earphones poked out his neckline which he was grateful for. He quickly put them on as he approached the picnic table near the toilet house.

He pulled out the tiny pocket notebook and pen he always kept in his pocket and settled down to spill his thoughts onto the page. This was what their lyrics were made up. Sometimes he'd only write single lines or a metaphor, other times it was an entire verse or chorus. But this was the stuff no one ever got to see. Everything in it lay too close to home. It was too personal, like a series of glimpses into his mind. He had another, larger notebook in his bunk. There he'd sort out the bad stuff and piece together the rest until it was a complete song.

For about ten minutes, he just sat and wrote. Today, none of his thoughts were connected. Some of it didn't even met sense. He just wrote to get it out of his mind and put it into words. 

When a presence appeared at his back, he snapped the pages shut and whirled around.

It was Newt. He stood right behind him with his hands in his hoodie pockets.When their eyes met, Newt cocked his head.

Thomas pulled out his earphones and reached into his pocket to pause the song. "Yo", he said as way of greeting.

"Hey", Newt replied. He offered a small smile before he hopped onto the table next to Thomas's notebook.

Thomas leaned back when Newt stretched his legs and propped his feet against the backrest of the bench.

"Why are you hiding over here?" Newt asked. "Did Minho say something dumb again?"

"Yeah ... kinda. And Teresa joined in, so I thought I'd get away and actually do something productive."

"You working on a new song?" Newt asked. His eyes darted to the notebook. 

Thomas put a protective hand on the black cover as if Newt could look through it and read the pages. "Yeah, no, not really. It's not even in its diapers yet. Writer's block, ya know?"

Newt nodded even as he was still looking at Thomas's hand. "Did you ever let anyone actually look into that thing? I know it's always on you but not even I've ever seen even a glimpse of what's inside."

"It's ... personal."

Newt looked back and forth between Thomas and the notebook. "Do you sleep with it on you?"

Thomas cocked an eyebrow and slowly pulled it closer. "Why? You planning to steal it?"

Newt paused for dramatic effect. "Maybe."

"Trust me, there's no point in even trying. It never leaves my side." To demonstrate, Thomas put it into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled up the zipper.

Newt actually looked on the brink of pouting. "I don't like it when you keep secrets from me."

"Life's tough."

"And you're a douche."

"Aw, you know I love you."

"You do? Does that mean ... I can have a small peek?"

Thomas paused. "No."

Newt nudged his arm with his foot. "Please?"

"Nope." Thomas grabbed his leg by the ankle and tugged lightly. "Now come on, or the bus is gonna leave without us."

"I wouldn't worry. They'd be useless without us."

They still got up and rejoined their bandmates.

* * *

Evening found Thomas sitting propped up against his pillows in his bunk. His tiny notebook lay opened inside his second notebook as he tried to work through his brain-vomit until it made enough sense to be called a song. But that kind of stuff wasn't always easy when nothing seemed to fit together. By now, he had something that could potentially be called a chorus and three other lines one might be able to use as a bridge. He still wasn't satisfied.

He crossed out some words, replaced them with others and tried to read them in some kind of rhythm. There were still too many syllables going on in the second line to turn it into a verse.

"Whatcha doooing?" 

Thomas quickly shut his notebook and squished the smaller book and pen between the pages. "Have you been watching _Phineas & Ferb_ again?"

"Maybe", Newt answered with a smile. He didn't even ask before he crawled into the bunk. Their shoulders were pressed together as he snuggled into the pillow. He looked like he was ready to go to sleep. "So what do you say? We got another hit in the making?"

Thomas snorted as he nudged Newt's shoulder with his. "Shut up."

This exchange had become sort of a running joke between all of them. None of them cared about how successful their songs were, as long as their fans enjoyed them. If it was enough for them to continue to live their dream and play shows, it was a win in their book.

"Seriously though, can I read it?" Newt asked as he already reached for the notebook.

Thomas quickly snatched it away. "Not just yet."

Newt dropped his hand. " _Maaan._ I just wanna get back to working on an actual song together as a band."

"Tomorrow", Thomas promised.

"Yeah?"

"Sure. Things are coming together. I should have something for you by noon."

Newt grinned. "Awesome!"

"I think your poshness is dying around me", Thomas joked.

Newt lightly punched his shoulder, even while he was smiling. "Oh, shut it."

Thomas returned the smile, but inside his heart was racing. His eyes darted from Newt's lips to his eyes and back. They were so close, so fucking close and all he'd have to do was bridge a few inches to have them kissing. "I love you."

"Yeah, I know", Newt replied. He looked content as he dropped his head on Thomas's shoulder.

"No, I'm serious."

"Yeah, love you too." Newt sound like he was already dozing off.

Thomas sighed.

* * *

He must've fallen asleep at some point. When he woke up, it was completely dark and their bus wasn't moving anymore.

There was a warm pressure on his chest and, when he lifted his head to take a peak, he found Newt sprawled halfway on top him. It wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence at this point. They'd fallen asleep in each other's bunks so often that their band mates weren't even surprised to catch them curled up together anymore. 

Since Thomas had joined little over a year ago, Newt and him had been like magnets. They gravitated toward each other, going from shared smiles, private jokes and shared late night conversations, to frequent hugs, casual touches and even exchanged "I love you"s. They were pretty much dating, just without the parts Thomas had began to long for more and more.

Thomas closed his eyes and released a deep breath to banish the thoughts to the depths of his mind. Once he'd gently adjusted Newt on top of him, he fell back asleep.

* * *

 

The next time he woke up was to Minho flicking his nose. "Rise and shine, lovebirds!"

"Fuck off, asshole", Newt muttered. Thomas squinted an eye to watch him swat his hand in Minho's general direction.

"You either get up for breakfast now, or you won't get any for another five hours or so."

Thomas listened to him leave together with Teresa.

"Think we should get up?" Newt asked.

"I'm fucking starving", Thomas admitted.

"Yeah, me too." Newt sounded unhappy but rolled off Thomas nevertheless.

They hadn't changed before they'd fallen asleep and didn't bother to do anything more than straighten their clothes on their way out. 

They found their bandmates in the back corner of the small roadside café.

"You both got sex-hair", Teresa informed them the moment she laid eyes on them.

Thomas slid in across from her. "Oh, I wish."

Newt just snorted.

They ordered pancakes, waffles and five cups of coffee. The extra one was to-go for their driver Chuck who was probably asleep right now.

After the waitress left, Minho folded his hands on the table and looked at the two men across from him. "Sooo ... you two." He gestured between them. "You get along really well, right?"

"Yeeeeaah", Newt answered slowly and with a frown.

"Have you ever considered - ouch!" Minho jumped when Thomas kicked him in the shin, shaking his head urgently. "But -" Thomas kicked him again. "Okay, Jesus fucking Christ, just stop kicking me."

"What the bloody hell's going on?" Newt asked.

"Nothing, trust me", Thomas answered.

"Yeah, and that's the problem", Minho muttered.

Thomas threw him another glare. Minho had the decency to actually flinch this time, almost as if he could feel the impact of another kick.

"So how's the new song coming along?" Teresa interrupted.

"It's going fine", Newt answered. He still looked suspicious.

"So Tom finally got over his writer's block?"

"Apparently", Newt answered with a shrug. "We were planning on making a demo for it today."

Teresa smiled. "Cool! So ... you gonna sing this time?"

Newt cringed at the mere suggestion. "No, definitely not."

Thomas drew his eyebrows together. "Why not?"

Newt rolled his eyes. "I don't wanna get into this discussion again. Just accept it already: I'm never, _ever_  gonna sing on a record. That's final."

"But-"

"Tommy!"

Thomas jutted out his lower lip. "But I just wrote the perfect duet. You and Teresa could pull it off perfectly."

"Stop trying to convince me! We're gonna find a guest singer who sounds a thousand times better than me."

"It won't be the same", Thomas replied.

Newt sighed in frustration. "Stop pulling that face."

"No."

"I won't give in."

Thomas repeatedly bumped their shoulders together. "Please, Newt, pleeease. It'll be perfect."

"No."

"But I need you to sing on this record. Just back up vocals?"

"No."

"But-"

"Seriously, Tommy, shut up."

"But I wrote this specifically for you to sing!"

"Don't you write every song for him?" Minho asked which earned him another kick.

"This is different", Thomas replied.

"How so?" Teresa asked.

"This one I wrote for him to _sing_ , not just hear."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up!" Newt interrupted. "How were those songs for me?"

The waitress showed up and quickly put down their order, then she hurried away as if she realized she'd intruded on a private moment.

Minho didn't hesitate to dig into his food.

Teresa on the other hand only took a sip of her coffee without taking her eyes of them.

Thomas frowned. "Well, I wrote them. _For you_."

Newt cocked his head. "But they're all pining and lovey-dovey."

"Yeees. So?"

"You don't feel like that abou- oh. Huh."

Thomas quickly averted his eyes and started picking apart his waffle, just to have something to do with his hands.

"So you- huh."

"Who needs soap operas, am I right?" Teresa whispered to Minho who hushed her quickly.

Newt and Thomas ignored them.

"So you really meant it", Newt said slowly. "When you told me you ... love me?"

Thomas gulped. "Yeah, of course. I thought you knew that."

"I thought you were just really affectionate."

"Well, I am."

Newt chuckled. "You're really something else."

Thomas huffed. "You're one to talk! Most people already think one song's a big enough love declaration but you got an entire album and still didn't get it."

"I thought you were straight", Newt argued back.

Thomas almost chocked on his saliva. "What?" He wheezed.

"I thought you were straight!"

Minho burst out laughing. "Seriously? Our Thomas? You really thought he was straight? That's beautiful."

Newt ducked his head. "He never did anything that would suggest otherwise", he mumbled.

"I confessed my undying love to you for like six months on a daily basis", Thomas replied. "If that's not gay enough for you than I don't know what is."

"I thought that was just a thing you did!"

"Have you ever seen me tell anybody else?"

"Well ... no ... but still!"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know", Newt confessed.

They were all quiet for a while.

Thomas felt the discomfort settle in. He'd put himself out there, had confessed his feelings over and over again, but somehow it had still ended nothing like he'd imagined. Newt hadn't turned him down ... yet. But he also hadn't returned the gesture. No "I love you, too" or "let's go on a date". Thomas wasn't sure whether to feel rejected or not. Either way, he felt violently uncomfortable and naked. So he stuffed his face with bits and pieces of his shredded waffle to cover up his nervousness. 

"Let's be serious for a second here", Teresa said to break the silence. "Will this mess up the band?"

Thomas looked up anxiously.

Newt quickly shook his head. "'Course not."

Thomas gulped down his mouthful of food. "Does that mean...?"

Newt's lips pulled up into a soft smile. "Yeah."

Thomas's eyes widened before a smile spread over his face.

"Let's go on a date, hot stuff."

"Who needs chick flicks, am I right?" Minho whispered to Teresa who rolled her eyes.

"There's no such thing as chick flicks."

* * *

They didn't _actually_ go on a date in the end.

Their tour-schedule was so crammed they barely managed to hang out like usual while still getting enough sleep.

Every now and again, they'd squeeze in an evening of watching DVDs and cuddling in bed or on the couch between hours above hours spent in the small recording space at the back of the bus. But even with all of that, they still hadn't had their first kiss. They'd gotten close repeatedly but somehow, it had never felt right. Either one of their bandmates had walked in, or a bump in the road had knocked their foreheads together and sent them into a downward spiral of laughter, or one of them had slightly turned their head to turn it into a peck on the cheek instead. It was strange. Thomas had been dating since high school but not once had he ever walked the blurred line between friendship and more for that long. Yet somehow, he didn't mind. It was still Newt. He was happy having him in his life in whatever Newt felt comfortable with.

* * *

 

The first show after the cafè incident was fueled with adrenaline and euphoria.

Thomas hadn't sweated that much since their first few concerts of the tour. There was something new and exciting about having this burden taken off him and the crowd seemed to realize. They fed on his energy and gave back tenfold. It was exhilarating. 

They gave two encores before Teresa and Minho walked off stage and left Thomas to throw spare drumsticks into the crowd. Each of them had the 'Gladers' logo printed on the side and was cheaply made as a souvenir and nothing more. Thomas had been passing them out since the start of the tour. The only difference was that, this time, Newt joined him.

When the last of them were tossed, Newt walked up to wrap an arm around Thomas's shoulder.

Thomas quickly turned to look at him with a wide grin. His shoulders were still heaving with each breath.

Newt lightly shook his head and leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Thomas was stunned.

The crowd went nuts.

The roar of noise pulled Thomas out of his stupor and brought a huge grin to his face. He turned to bring his arms around Newt and press a kiss to his cheek before he pulled back and bowed to the crowd.

Newt joined him and pressed a hand over his heart as they watched their fans cheer.

Thomas lightly shook his head in disbelief. He never even dared to dream of having this much support and now here they were. He turned to look back at Newt who looked just as shocked and happy. When their eyes met again, Newt's smile grew impossibly wider.

Thomas reached out his hand and waited. Newt didn't hesitate. He linked their fingers and bent for one last bow before he walked off stage, Thomas in tow.

* * *

 

The next day, rumors were already spread all across the internet.

Vines, videos and gifs flooded every social media site. Some people claimed it was nothing but affection between friends, others plastered #Newmas everywhere while screaming "CANON" in all caps every chance they got. They were accused of baiting LGBT+ fans, flaunting their sexualities, tainting their concerts with their "Gay Agenda" and god knew what else.

The band just found it amusing. They'd always been open about supporting the LGBT+ community and the people that mattered knew it. The core group their entire success was built on supported them endlessly and were adamant to show their love by sending them Tweets, DMs, messages and videos. 

Thomas himself was generally plain confused. He'd never hidden his sexuality to begin with, had even described himself as gay in every other interview, yet the media actually seemed shocked when he displayed his sexuality? What was that about?

"Ignore the homophobes", Newt simply told him. "They don't deserve your time of day."

Thomas nodded to himself and clicked off his phone screen.

"You know", Newt started, making Thomas look over at him where he'd dropped on the couch next to him. "We still haven't had our proper first kiss yet."

Thomas's eyes immediately darted down to Newt's lips. "I'm aware."

Newt smiled slightly. "We should probably take care of that."

Thomas nodded. "We should."

Newt smiled even wider. "Glad we're on the same pa-"

Thomas closed the gap. 

Tingles shot down Thomas's spine as warmth pooled in his gut. Newt's hands were first to wander. They dragged across the bare skin on Thomas's arms and found their way into dark curls. Their lips moved in sync, dragging and parting to deepen the kiss and back up when it was getting too heated. It was wet and warm, sparks and softness. It was everything Thomas had dreamed it to be and more.

When they pulled apart, they were both having trouble breathing. Their foreheads fell together as their eyes remained closed. Warm air accumulated between their faces.

"That was..." Thomas trailed off.

"Yeah."

"We're gonna do that more frequently now, right?"

"Hell yeah."

* * *

The end of their tour was marked by their manager. She approached Newt and Thomas the minute they got off the bus and told them she'd scheduled an interview for them to explain what was going on between them. They didn't even get a say in it.

When they arrived at the studio, all of them were dressed casually since they'd quickly found out their interviewer was Brenda. They'd known for years, or well, the three others had. Thomas had only met her twice - once when he'd joined and once when they'd released the first single Thomas had written the lyrics for. She was a cool, laid-back and didn't bother with questions they'd answered a million times before.

When they walked into the interview space, Teresa and Minho settled down on one of the love seats while Newt and Thomas opted for the other.

Brenda was already there, sitting comfortably in a bright blue armchair across from them. She pulled them into casual conversation, explained a few things about how the Q&A videos she planned to do with them after and then they went live.

"Hello, everyone! My name's Brenda and I'm back here with the _Gladers_ today!" She turned to face them with a wide smile. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Brenda!" they all greeted happily.

"So ... that's quite the bomb you dropped on your fans there!"

Thomas chuckled. "It was dropped on me too."

Brenda grinned. "So this really wasn't staged at all like some people assumed."

Thomas shook his head. "Nope. All real."

"It was a heat of the moment type of thing", Newt agreed.

"Before I get to you two love birds", Brenda said, throwing them a suggestive look."Teresa, Minho, what do you guys think about all this?"

Minho smiled widely. "Oh, you've got no idea how long we've been waiting for them to get their heads outta there ass-"

Teresa hurried to put a hand over Minho's mouth. "No cursing", she reminded him before pulling her hand away. "But he's right! I mean, if you've heard our last album ... Thomas was anything but discrete about his mother of all crushes."

"Newt's really oblivious", Minho added.

"Blind and deaf when it comes to this", Teresa nodded in agreement.

Brenda chuckled. "How about the band-dynamic, has it changed?"

Teresa shook her head. "Not really. They were always really close and Thomas has been confessing his love pretty much every single day for months. So basically, it's still the same but _more_."

Minho chuckled. "Greenie's lyrics might make you believe he's been moping and pining in a dark room this entire time, but he was actually just hanging around Newt twenty-four-seven to soak up the freely given attention. They were basically dating even before they were dating."

"Sounds like you two are quite the pair", Brenda said as she turned to face Thomas and Newt.

They just shrugged.

"This next part, is just for you", Brenda informed them. "And what I did, was ask your fans to send in questions on _Twitter_ under the Hashtag _AskNewtmas_."

"Is that our shipping name?" Newt asked with a chuckle.

"I thought it was Newmas!" Thomas said.

"I've seen both, actually", Brenda replied. "But now: you ready for question number one?"

"Yup", Thomas said.

Brenda looked down at her flashcards and frowned. "No, let's just skip this one."

"No, I wanna hear it!" Thomas replied.

"Trust me, you don't."

"No, come on", Newt said. "Hit us."

Brenda sighed. "This is really inappropriate but ... this person asks: who bottoms?" Then she added under her breath: "Someone's getting fired today."

"Both our bunks are the bottom ones actually", Newt answered.

"Yeah, but we usually share anyway", Thomas added.

Brenda nearly chocked on her laughter. "I'll give you that one, nicely done. Next one: 'When did you realize you'd fallen for each other?'"

"Oh, tough one", Thomas replied. "Uh ... I think it took me like a month or two but I fell had."

A few seconds of silence passed before Newt spoke up. "I'm not really sure. I always thought Tommy was straight until he confessed to me so I suppressed a lota thoughts and feelings before that."

"Really?" Brenda asked.

"Yeah!"

"But hasn't he talked about his sexuality openly in interviews since the very beginning?"

"Yeah, he even gave a little speech at our LGBT charity concert", Teresa put in.

"Did he?" Newt asked, scratching at his neck self-consciously. "I don't remember that at all."

Thomas chuckled. "Oh, man. I'm enjoying this so much right now."

Newt lightly punched his shoulder. "Shut up. You could've just told me sooner."

"I did!"

"No, you didn't."

"Dude, I told you literally every single day."

"But I didn't know you meant it like that."

"That is _not_ my fault."

"Okay, guys", Brenda spoke up. "Sounds like this isn't the first time you had that argument."

"You've got no idea", Minho chimed in.

"We're running out of time. So next question: 'What is _Waiting But No Progress_ about'?"

"I thought that was quite obvious", Thomas answered. "It's about me waiting for Newt but there being no progress at all. It's kinda in the title."

"Still not entirely my fault", Newt added.

"A lot of my frustration went into that song and even some descriptions of Newt, like his hair and eye color and stuff like that."

"He couldn't have gotten more obvious without actually saying his name", Minho commented.

"Singing it was a little strange", Teresa remarked. "Thomas tried to get Newt to sing back up vocals but the dude's pretty stubborn."

Brenda looked at Newt with a smug smile. "So you can sing?"

Newt cleared his throat. "No, not really."

"He's really good", Thomas jumped in. "I've been trying to get him to sing on a record since our first recording session but he won't budge."

"Spam him on all of his social media!" Minho told the camera. "If you bug him enough, maybe you'll get to hear him on our next record!"

"Now, that's something we'd all like to hear, I'm sure", Brenda said. "Now to our last question: 'What was your first reaction to meeting each other?'"

"Oh, that's easy", Newt said. "I was like 'shit, he's hot'. Then I quickly changed my mind to 'fuck, he's cute', just to go back to the first thing."

"Why is he allowed to curse?" Minho asked.

"Because he's British", Teresa deadpanned.

"Not fair."

Thomas ignored his band mates to answer. "I don't remember specifically but I'm sure it was something with the word 'angel' in it. I think I wrote parts for a song about it. Maybe I'll use them on our new record."

"That sounds promising!" Brenda said and turned to face the camera. "You heard it, guys! _The Gladers_ are working on a new album, so keep your eye on their social media for future updates!"

* * *

 They were lounging on the couch in their recording studio with only three more songs to go. They were currently on a much needed break with Teresa pressed into one corner, Minho into the other and Thomas halfway in Newt's lap in the middle.

"So that emo-est song of all emo-songs we had on our first album was also for me?" Newt asked, working his way down some mental list.

Thomas gave a small nod. "Yup. Wrote it after that fight we had where you were close to quitting the band."

"Ah, yeah, I remember that. I would've never left, you know?"

"Didn't know that at the time."

"He was a fucking mess", Minho added.

Thomas punched his arm. "Shut up! I'm an emotional guy!"

"It's true. He was a mess the first time he saw _Pink_ 's _Fucking Perfect_ video", Teresa said.

"And after _Sunrise Avenue_ 's _Welcome To My Life_ video."

"You're just both coldhearted assholes", Thomas interrupted.

Newt patted his boyfriend's chest. "You tell them, Tommy."

"Are you making fun of me?" Thomas asked.

"I would never." Newt pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

"You better not or I'll write a song about it and force you to play it."

"Oh, horror!"

"And then I'll also make you sing it!"

"Never gonna happen, darling."

"Try me."

* * *

Their new record climbed the charts and earned them platinum.

Thomas tried to convince Newt it was because of his back-up vocals on two of the songs.

Newt blamed it on the 'emo lyrics'.

They released their fourth album on Newt's and Thomas's two year anniversary.

Thomas gave Newt his now filled black notebook as a gift.

Newt in turn promised to sing lead vocals on an upcoming song.


End file.
